Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston
Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston

Showtime Sports released the official trailer for the upcoming documentary film Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston, premiering Friday, November 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Written and directed by Simon George and told through original conversations with luminaries, historians and some of Liston’s closest friends and family, Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston chronicles the rise and precipitous fall of one of the most vilified and misunderstood sports champions of all time.

Sonny Liston overcame insurmountable odds and became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1962 when he knocked out Floyd Patterson. Just eight years later, his wife would find him dead in their Las Vegas home from a supposed heroin overdose.

Throughout his rise to fame, Liston was disparaged and denigrated by white society as a violent criminal. His association with notorious mobsters and his back-to-back losses to Muhammad Ali inevitably caused Liston to spiral out of control. The documentary film examines the peaks and troughs of Liston’s life, and how the mystery that clouded his death continues to this day.

Developed from Shaun Assael’s investigative book The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights, Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston features exclusive conversations with Mike Tyson and boxing historians Nigel Collins, Jerry Izenberg, Bob Lipsyte, Don Majeski and Assael.

PARIAH: THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF SONNY LISTON Trailer

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